


Two Sides of the Same Story

by namtaenabi



Category: Winner (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 13:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7847746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/namtaenabi/pseuds/namtaenabi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They are at it again: late night texting, late night waiting and late night denial.</p><p>Taehyun has long since accepted that there is something between them, that he cares more for Minho than he dares to put into words. He's not the kind of person who opens up easily like that. Minho has also realized there is something there, but he is dreading it, avoiding it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Still Waiting

_You said you’d make it on time…_

 

**And you said you wouldn’t wait for me even if I came on time.**

 

Fair enough, he had said that. But that was after two bottles of soju and four hours of waiting on a bench in the park. Had Minho even thought about how cold it was? How the December wind had been biting through his jacket and left his cheek numb and his throat soar? Who would not yell out in anger at someone who just happened to be four hours late and not even bother with a single kakao message? Not even a text!

 

Taehyun stared down at the phone in his hand as he absentmindedly played with the phone strap hanging from the simple, black phone case. The sleek rock attached to a little chain and a leather strap had been a present from him. A silly present. A stupid, somewhat tacky, and yet extremely touching present. Most of the time he wanted to rip it off and throw it as far away as possible, and one time he even did it. But no one had seen him doing it, just as no one had seen him carefully putting it back together. The stupid thing meant too much to be thrown away just like that.

 

_Do I ever not wait for you?_

 

**Do I ever not come back?**

 

A whispered curse brushed past Taehyun’s lips and he let the phone slip from his fingers onto the floor. He hated it. Hated Song Minho and his smartass replies. Hated that he always waited for those replies, even if he knew they would upset him. Hated that one time or another the reply would come. That was the main problem: the answer always came, and so he couldn’t stop waiting. Just like he couldn’t let go of that goddamn phone strap.

 

_Are you even coming back tonight?_

 

No reply. After going through the efforts of picking up his phone and typing in a message, there was no answer. Not even a single syllable! The message was read, that much Taehyun could get from the chatting program. But why wouldn’t it let him know if the other was writing up a reply or not? Sighing again, the boy rolled onto his back and stared up at the white ceiling of his room. Why was it only him who worried and sat up half the night waiting for Minho? The other three seemed fine with letting him come and go, as he wanted as long as he was there for their set schedules and their set practice.

 

“God damn asshole.”

 

Well, right now that was what he was. Taehyun balled his hand into a fist and knocked against mattress, hissing when his hand hit against the hard wood frame of his bed instead. See, this was all Minho’s fault! Minho’s fault that he was home alone, in bed, on a Friday night. Minho’s fault that his hand was hurting. Minho’s fault that he wasn’t sleeping. Everything was Song fucking Minho’s fault.

 

_Really? You’re not even going to answer me now? Jerk face! Just because I don’t know all the things you and your royal class friends know about hip hop doesn’t meant that you can just._

 

_Just_

 

_Just forget it. I am not waiting anymore._

 

 

 

 

 

**_You said you’d make it on time…_ **

 

_And you said you wouldn’t wait for me even if I came on time._

 

Minho pressed the lock button on his phone and slipped it back in his pocket. Taehyun was at it again and he almost felt bad. Almost. The younger boy would always wait for him, always sit up with those slanting eyebrows so low he was sure they would touch in the middle. Why didn’t he see that when he said he would be late, he would be late? Waiting up was just dumb and would make Taehyun tired and grumpy in the morning. No one wanted a grumpy Nam Taehyun at their hands when they had work to do. And yet he waited.

 

 

The phone strap attached to the black phone case caught in the rapper’s jeans and he let out a sigh as he quickly detached it. Just because the other had seemed so incredibly happy when he gave his to him. Just because seeing those dark eyes lighten up. Just because of Nam fucking Taehyun Minho was pushing his own limits all over the place. He really wasn’t that kind of person. He wasn’t nice. All the past failures had made him too wary of making friends with his group mates. Of course it was great seeing your friends debut, but it sucked when you were left behind and had to watch their success that you almost got to be a part of.

 

**Do I ever not wait for you?**

 

_Do I ever not come back?_

 

Despite telling himself all these things, Minho was still being pulled back to the dorm. Even on the nights he’d rather stay out all night to think, write down random ideas for songs on the napkins at whatever café or bar he was at. Taehyun pulled him down like gravity and whenever he tried to get far enough away to become weightless again, it wouldn’t work. There would be that ring of his phone, a vibration notifying a new message on kakaotalk.

 

**Are you even coming back tonight?**

 

Was he coming back? He should. But Minho wanted to be weightless again, he wanted to be free again. Being tied down ended up with him getting his heart beaten up. It was always like that, like some stupid rule set down by stupid people who liked to watch him suffer. Before the survival program it had been even worse. What if they lost it? The other team was set to debut anyway, they were all so much younger than his team, they had what the higher ups wanted. But his team? They all knew that if this failed, many of them would have spent their final chance. How did you learn to relax and open up to people you might not see again after those hundred days of hell? It had seemed too difficult, too much. And then they actually won and now he was stuck with these four guys and supposedly let them in. Being friendly and joke around was not the problem. Taehyun was the problem.

 

_Really? You’re not even going to answer me now? Jerk face! Just because I don’t know all the things you and your royal class friends know about hip hop doesn’t meant that you can just_

 

Just what? 

 

_Just_

 

He wasn't going to tell him at all?

 

_Just forget it. I am not waiting anymore._

 

Minho sighed, rubbed his eyes as he stood, back leaned against the door. See, he should have come sooner. Or at least gone in sooner. He had been there all the time, waiting for... for what? What had he been waiting for? For Taehyun to find him out there? All it would take was to press down the doorknob and he would be there. But not tonight. 

 

"Wait for me just a little longer."


	2. Raise the Curtain

”Sit with me today?”

 

Taehyun smiled at Jinwoo as he hooked his arm onto his hyung’s as they boarded the airplane. He didn’t even look back at Minho. He didn’t want to. Things had been so awkward since that last message he had sent last weeks, it was hard to put an act as if nothing was wrong. Unlike the other, he couldn’t easily be completely nonchalant about it. Not that he hadn’t tried. But when he had even the other members had noticed and asked him what was wrong. To which he had told them everything was fine and he was just tired because of their busy schedule.  A believable excuse. Even their leader hadn’t asked twice about it.

 

_Now you won’t even talk to me?_

 

He blinked twice, staring down at the words on his phone. Was it really him? Not able to overcome his curiosity, Taehyun stretched his neck and looked over at the seat where he knew Minho would be sitting with his fellow rapper. For a split second their eyes met and then he quickly turned around, feeling his cheeks burn at his own stupidity. Damn his curiosity, and damn Minho for suddenly dropping a bomb like that. Thankfully they didn’t sit next to each other, and the schedule in Japan meant that there would be little time to talk apart from when on stage. And on stage was always different. They could interact as a part of the performance without actually interacting. Most of it was scripted after all.

 

Reaching for his phone, Taehyun stared at the phone and slid deeper down in his seat. Fingers moved to start typing up an answer, but whenever he wrote more than two words he would erase it and let out a sigh deep enough for Jinwoo to look up from his computer game. What would it matter if he replied? It wouldn’t reach till their plane landed down at Haneda anyway, and by then maybe his feelings had changed? Two hours and maybe his feelings would change? Maybe he would catch the rapper’s eyes as they got off the plane and feel bad again about his last message? To not even get a reply had been harsh, and even if he hated to admit it even to himself, he had cried over it. When they finally seemed to take one step forward, they would take two steps backwards again. Or more correctly: Minho would take three steps backwards, turn his back and run into hiding for a few days. Every time it happened it would hurt a little bit more.

 

**Will you make it in time then?**

 

In the end he had sent it, not sure when Minho would be able to check his phone for messages. At the airport? Most likely. But there was no time for them to talk through it. It was probably best that way. The less they could talk before their performance, the easier it would be to concentrate and act as if nothing had happened. Yeah, that was definitively the best way to go at it.

 

As soon as the plane touched down in Japan Taehyun found his phone again and turned off flight mode on his phone. And as soon as he did that a slight vibration notified him of a new message:

 

_I will try._

 

 

 

_”Sit with me today?”_

 

Minho’s eyes widened at the magnae’s sudden words, but didn’t say anything. Of course he would choose a different seating pattern than they normally did. Normally they would sit together, hands touching when people didn’t look at them. Some times they would talk all the way, and sometimes Minho would pretend to be tired and fall asleep. When actually it was just an excuse to lean against the other for a good two hours without explaining or defending his actions to himself or the other.

 

Dumping down in the seat next to Seunghoon, he instantly plugged in his earphones and turned the volume up. Better make it clear from the start he didn’t feel like talking. How could one guy make him so confused and frustrated? And still… Taehyun was right in being mad. Minho knew he had been a bit too harsh on the other, that his own confusion had caused the younger man pain. He knew all that, he knew it all so damn well, but that wasn’t enough for him to change. So why should he reach out and try to change when it wouldn’t work? Looking up from his phone his eyes fell on the seat he knew Taehyun would be sitting in. It wouldn’t work changing, but perhaps this one was worth at least trying?

 

**_Now you won’t even talk to me?_ **

 

Before he knew it the message was sent and the rapper growled inwardly. That wasn’t what he had meant to say. It had been about the twentieth attempt to write out a decent message for the other the flight attendant had announced over the speaker system that they would be taking off in not too long and asked to kindly put their phones on flight mode. He had panicked and now he had sent a message that sounded too harsh to the other.

 

A sudden movement caught his eyes, he looked up and those familiar dark eyes caught his glance. So he had read it. The look only lasted for a few seconds, but it left Minho uneasy for the rest of the flight. To let someone get this much power over him… since when had Song Minho been this weak? Twitching in his seat he wished for a brief second he hadn’t even come to this company, but it was only for a second. After two failures, he had been given the chance to debut. He had received the recognition he so much desired and met four people he could actually feel comfortable with.  Three people. Nothing was comfortable with the group magnae, just very, very confusing and hard on him.

 

_Will you make it in time then?_

 

Minho’s eyes bulged as he looked down on his phone and he dropped in the floor in surprise. The plane had barely even touched the ground yet and now this? His gaze flickered in direction of the familiar back head one row in front of him and then back at his phone. There wasn’t even time to think about it, there was only one answer. Actually there were three, and sadly he could not give the younger man the answer he truly wanted. But this should be plenty?

 

**I will try.**


	3. Tables Turning

Down one, two, three… how many steps was it? Minho didn’t bother counting them all. The familiarity of the small izakaya was striking and made his mind drift off to different things. Like the time Taehyun had called him out, pretending to have forgotten his wallet. If it hadn’t turned out to be a hidden camera, what would he have done? Would it have changed anything between them? The likeliness of it was very low. Back then, when they haven’t even had an official debut, he had been even more elusive than he was now, and commitment was the last thing he wanted. Had he even believed that Winner would make it to actually finishing their album and debuting back then? Everything had been so unstable and insecure behind the scenes then. Things were much better now, but were they good enough?

 

Nodding at the familiar man behind the counter Minho slipped to the back of the bar to the familiar table in the corner, slightly hidden from the entrance. That was where they’d always sit whenever they came. Mostly him and Taehyun, sometimes all five of them. The place was close enough to the hotel to not get lost, and close enough to make up a quick excuse if they were caught sneaking out.

 

Minho quietly ordered a beer and pulled out his phone, staring at the screen.

 

12:37 AM.

 

Why had he suddenly been asked to come out like this? And why now? 1 AM wasn’t really a normal time for people to meet. Also, why wasn’t the other here yet? Shuffling restlessly in his seat Minho couldn’t help looking towards the door. Was Taehyun even coming?

 

**It was the bar by the hotel, right? At 1?**

 

_Yes, I already told you. What, are you not coming after all?_

 

Was he not…. Minho frowned at his phone and gave it a little, annoyed push. Who was the one not coming? It was 12:45 and Taehyun still wasn’t here! Was he really coming? He didn’t even feel like drinking his beer anymore, he was too annoyed (and worried). At 12:30 he had been rushing out of the room he shared with Seunghoon and Jinwoo as per usual, scared that he would make Taehyun wait. Again. The magnae had made it perfectly clear on the plane the other day that he wouldn’t wait if he was late again.

 

_Don’t be late._

 

Again? For the second time in just a few minutes Minho stared at his cellphone in both anger and disbelief. Late? That was exactly what he was not! He was sitting here, _waiting_ for the other to show up, only he wasn’t. Wasn’t Taehyun the one late? Was he even coming?

 

12:54 AM.

 

He wouldn’t come. Pulling a bill out of his pocket he left it on the table and stood up, heading towards the stars. Why would Taehyun come? Wasn’t this just another prank? A payback for all the times he had been made to wait? One step, two steps-…

 

“ _Hyung?_ ”

 

An involuntary shiver ran through Minho’s body at the sound of the soft voice and he looked up, taking in the familiar sight of slanted eyebrows, dark brown hair parted in the middle.

 

“ **I thought-…** ”

 

“ _Are you going somewhere? I just thought… it would be nice to spend Valentine’s Day together._ ”

 

1:00 AM

 

Valentine’s Day? But it was Friday. Friday the 13th even! Only it wasn’t. Not anymore.

 

 

 

 

Would he come this time around? Things had been so awkward since they’d walked out of the plane at Haneda even Seungyoon had asked him about it. And when the leader actually broke the now familiar silence between the two of them when they were left alone in a room, it had to be painfully obvious. At least he wasn’t there now to ask about it. Wherever the three others had gone, Taehyun had just faked a headache and refused to go out. What Minho had done to not go with them… he had no idea. Maybe he had even gone with them and would end up stumbling in, completely drunk? It wouldn’t be the first.

 

He frowned, watching how his face scrunched up in the mirror as he did so. Why did things have to be so complicated? Fighting wore him out, but this wasn’t really arguing. It was a silent… something. Not quite a war, but not nothing either. Taehyun was really mad at Minho for standing him up so many times, and he was tired of waiting all night just to fall asleep and wake up to a message with an apology so plain it would make him want to throw his phone out the window. Was whatever they had really worth it?

 

Why question it when he knew the answer? Angry texting was one thing, but it was always forgotten when it went well. Those chocolate brown eyes, strong arms and deep voice could distract him from his anger at any time. Because when things were good between them, it was really great.

 

12:37 AM.

 

Most likely he was just being a fool on his own. The neatly wrapped gift he had left on his nightstand when he came back earlier just underlined the fact. How much chocolate wouldn’t the rapper have received from fans at the airport already? Taehyun scoffed and reached out a hand to lightly touch the pink ribbon. Fool. F-O-O-L.

 

_It was the bar by the hotel, right? At 1?_

 

**Yes, I already told you. What, are you not coming after all?**

 

Really? He wouldn’t show up? Taehyun felt a pang of hurt in his chest and he picked up his phone, motioning as if to throw it in the wall. Damn the existence of Song Minho. Damn the fact that even after this he was still putting on his coat, getting ready to go out. The thought of sitting there alone for a couple of hours made him want to just give it up and crawl to bed, but giving up now would just make him regret it more.

 

Grabbing his phone, Taehyun typed a quick response to the reply from Minho that never came. Then he wrapped a scarf around his neck and headed out.

 

_Don’t be late._

 

It was almost 1 AM when he reached the lobby, but since it seemed that a certain someone would be late, again, it didn’t matter. Sitting at the familiar bar would still be nicer than to sit alone in his room while the others were out having fun.

 

12:54 AM.

 

The more he thought about it, the more tempting a glass of beer sounded. Even if he had to enjoy it on his own. Or maybe he wouldn’t?

 

“ **Hyung**?”

 

Taehyun stared in disbelief at Minho, pretty sure this was what it would be like to see a ghost. Why was he here already here? And why in the world was he leaving? That made no sense.

 

_“I thought-…”_

 

**“Are you going somewhere? I just thought… it would be nice. That is, to spend Valentine’s Day together.”**

 

From the look of things, he hadn’t been the one waiting tonight?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever and was originally meant to be a one-shot. In the end I decided to add a few more chapters just to see where it goes. I don't really know where I got the idea to write this story, but I always thought it would be interesting to write one from two different perspectives. It is also frustrating, because you come across problems that the characters could have solved if they only were honest with each other.


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